The usual commotion at the Land’s Edge on a Cielday; Alexander sat at his table in the back reading his book, Franklin sitting on the table with his shot glass of water , next to Alexander's whiskey. Rilain was off doing whatever she wanted, business had been pouring in since returning from Kuu two months ago, and now they had hit a low spot. It was time to relax and take a chance to catch their breaths, make repairs, and restock supplies. It gave Alexander a chance to catch up on his reading. Ruby had just given him a book she had found about a thief so good he stole the moons right out of the sky. It was an interesting legend so far, since it kept his attention.
The bar livened up as a group burst in through the doors, shouting and causing a ruckus as they walked towards the tables. Alexander had his nose buried in a book or just didn't care to see the group of pirates walking towards his table.
As they reached the table, the leader announced, “I'm John LaRue, the Pirate King of Prush and we will be taking this table."
The bar had grown quiet after that statement, and then laughter erupted, someone stating, “What a bunch of losers! Stealing from Prush is like taking a wheelchair from a cripple.”
LaRue and his men didn't seem to like the jokes and insults, for they had not been out there for a while. Alexander just kept ignoring them, knowing that there was no time to waste on punks.
Franklin squeaked, “These guys are stupid looking,” as he sipped his water.
Alexander chuckled. “I know what you mean,” he said, picking up his glass taking a nice long sip.
“Are you listening, you one-eyed chanka shit? This is our table, so move or we'll beat you up,” LaRue screamed, his temper starting to flair.
“Are you done yet? I'm trying to read this book and enjoy a drink here," Alexander said, placing a bookmark in his book to keep his place. "Now, what was it you were saying? I wasn't paying attention," he said with a yawn.
LaRue didn't seem to like the response. He was furious, starting to reach for his weapon. Ruby rushed in to defuse the situation, but LaRue didn't seem to like this and slapped her in the face, causing her to fall into an empty table.
The bar had grown deathly quiet, but Franklin broke the silence with an angry-sounding squeak, "Murder them! Murder them ALL!"
Alexander got up from his chair and moved over to where Ruby had fell to see if she was alright. A nasty-looking cut on her forehead had started to ooze blood.
For a brief second, he was overcome with rage. He reached for his revolver and shot the crewman to LaRue's right and left in the head, two other crewmen started to move for their guns. Crack went his revolver and two more men fell. LaRue looked around for help, but his pleads fell on deaf ears.
Alexander handed his gun over to Ruby who emptied all his remaining bullets into LaRue's body as he tried to beg for his life.
"Whoever helps get rid of these bodies get free drinks for the rest of today," Ruby stated as she handed Alexander back his revolver. She tried to stand up to go sit down somewhere, but ended up stumbling away.
Alexander walked over to help her. "Alright, let’s get this cut cleaned up and get you to bed," he said as they started walking slowly to her room upstairs. She smiled.
"This brings back memories of us back in the day, before I got the Lands Edge, doesn't it?" she said.
"Those were good memories, but you didn't really like all the traveling. This life suits you more," he said as the reached her room. He cleaned up her face and it was lucky she didn't need stitches just a bandage. "You should get some rest. You'll feel better with a nap," he said walking out the door.
"Thank you," Ruby said, lying in bed.
Alexander walked back down to the bar, passing the other girl, using the rooms to make a living. The bartender called Alexander over. It seemed he received a message and a package arrived from Kuu. Alexander was curious to find out what it was.
On the way back to the Gazelle, he decided to make a short stop to clean up some loose ends with the rest of LaRues crew and ship.
"Now you're the pirate king of Prush," Franklin squeaked and Alexander stopped in his tracks as he boarded the Gazelle.
"That is a horrible joke, my friend. You should feel bad about that joke," he said, trying to breathe from laughing so hard.
Alexander reached his cabin, sitting down in his chair. He opened his package and it was full of old pictures of his family that his aunt had taken, as well as a note telling him the young Queen was throwing a masquerade ball and more of his family was coming. He had been invited to this event, since his family was apparently very well respected and high up in the aristocratic world; they were rich filthy stinking rich.
Alexander decided to get some rest, since they had a busy day of planning and prepping for another voyage across the ocean again, but it seemed it would be worth it. It wasn’t going to be for the money because Alexander was well off from the faking of Rilain's death and a few other high-paying contracts, but he liked living day by day. Money and power just seemed to corrupt, but he enjoyed having an emergency fund. Rilain hadn't returned yet from whatever she was doing these last couple of days, perhaps chasing after rumors and myths of creature that might not exist.
Alexander finally succumbed to his exhaustion and let sleep claim him. Morning came quickly and he started making preparations ready for a voyage. He stopped by the bar to see how Ruby was feeling, to place orders for more rations, and to get his usual crate of whiskey for long trips.
Hours had past and he and Franklin kept busy by doing inventory. It was quite a tedious process, but it had to be done.
Another night came and went and early in the morning, Rilain shuffled back on board. She looked tired, but she wasn't carrying anything, so it seemed to have been an unfruitful hunt. Alexander tossed her rope, telling her to tie down all loose objects aboard the ship. They set sail at noon and then hurried off to finish the final preparations. He also mentioned if he caught her sleeping instead of helping, he would kick her off the ship. So she hastily went off, doing her chores.
The final checks were finished when Ruby stopped by with the case of whiskey and a few meads for Rilain. They hugged and she wished them fair seas and following skies, an old sailing saying. She knew the meaning would get across to Alexander.
The engines began to hum, the sails unrolled, the docking cables released, and the Gazelle slowly ascended into the skies to set sail at a steady pace. Rilain went to sleep as Alexander continued their normal conversation topic, even though it looked like he was talking to himself.
The Gazelle made anchor early at the same rock it did last time. It seemed like a good in between spot for a few days trip. Rilain took her watch and they headed below deck to eat, have a couple drinks, and read a little bit before falling asleep.
Morning came quicker than Alexander would have liked, and Franklin was being annoying too, bouncing on Alexander’s chest because he was hungry.
"Alright, alright, I'll feed you," he said, dragging his body from the comfortable bed. "You couldn't have given me thirty more minutes, or even five minutes more?" He yawned as he walked to unlock the door and make something to eat.
As they walked down the hallway, Franklin was still saying, "Feed me! Feed me! Feed me!"
Alexander was tired and cranky still. "Alright, that's where we're going," he muttered.
Once they had eaten, they headed topside to get things started and the motors winced slowly, pulling up the chains one by one till the anchor was locked up in place and they ready to start sailing again.
The days passed by quickly until Kuu was spotted in the distance. Land was always a friendly sight after seeing water for such a long time, and it came quick. The snowy landscape and the rivers and waterfalls were completely frozen, while the air was cold and hurt the lungs to breathe, but it was good to breathe the cold air again. Kuu was still a welcome sight as they made their docking approach in the Hiemskôg docks. After the slow descent into the dock and once they had finished mooring the ship, they disembarked to meet the port authorities.
The authorities asked why they had come to the city and all Alexander did was show him the invitation to Queen Hanna Dahlberg’s grand masquerade ball. The official was taken aback by why a common-looking man was going to meet the queen, but gave in because all the paper work was correct and up to date so they set off for Alexander's aunt's house.
Alexander and Rilain walked through the city. It was busier than normal, probably because of the ball. There were a lot more dirty looks at Rilain than normal, but it wasn’t unusual since they didn’t like people from Araz, though it didn’t seem like a problem until two men stopped Alexander and Rilain and demanded the demon go back to her own county, followed by obscenities.
Alexander wanted to shoot them dead, but Franklin squeaked, "Bullets cost money. I don’t think they have enough money to buy the bullets back."
Alexander considered this. "You know you're right. They're not worth the effort. Let’s just go around them," he said.
They tried to walk around, but the men were determined to not let them pass. One of the men had a cane and decided to take a swing at Rilain. It came swishing through the air and Alexander reached out to grab the cane, and with a quick tug, freed it from the man’s grasp. A quick club to the side of the man’s face sent him sprawling to the floor and his comrade charged forward, trying to avenge his friend. Alexander retorted with a quick thrust of the cane like a sword into the man’s gut, causing him to lurch forward so Alexander could deliver a knee to the face.
"You know, guys, I was being easy on you. If she had her chance, you would all be full of shotgun pellets," Alexander said to the men, lying on the ground. He stepped over their bodies and continued walking to his aunt’s house.
They had reached the house quicker this time, since they knew the way. They were met by a butler who led them to the parlor where the lady of the house was currently at. Aunt Helen was entertaining a large group of people and she noticed them as they walked in, smiling.
"Now, let me introduce my nephew, Leviah Holt, or by his other name, Alexander Nolan," she said, hurrying over to give him a hug.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you all, even though I have no clue who any of you are, but you can call me Alex or Nolan. These are my companions, Franklin and Rilain," he said, and Franklin let out some squeaks. "Pleased to meet you."
Everyone moved in to greet their new cousin and friend. Alexander was a little overwhelmed by everyone wanting to know more, and some had even heard of him, which was surprising that their reputation had traveled this far.
After things had died down, he sat in the parlor with his aunt and the few who had not gone back to their rooms.
"You know, Alex, you could find a nice girl at this party other than your friend," his aunt said.
"Wait, wait, you think Rilain and I are a thing? We’re just companions. I haven't been close with anyone in a long time. There was one lady, but she wanted a different life. Now she’s just a good friend...." Alexander said, staring out the window and sipping on a glass of whiskey.
"Well, think about it. All you need is a nice Kuu woman, and you wouldn’t want to return to that dirty Araz." Helen said, and Alexander just laughed.
"You could be right, Aunt Helen, but I like Conwell and I like my life; I do what I want, when I want, and someone has to do the job."
Alexander and Franklin wandered back to their room, and Rilain had already left for hers. She wanted to sleep early after hearing about some Kuu animals. She wanted to go hunting and try to find some of the monsters that made up Kuu’s legends.
The room was quiet. Alexander missed the Gazelle's engine sounds, and the beds were too soft. His own bed was a lot firmer, so he decided to lay down on the couch, which felt more like his bed.
"Franklin, you can have the bed,” he said. “I'll take the couch."
"Fine, but no changing your mind on me. It's all mine! " Franklin squeaked and Alexander laughed at his statement.
Alexander replied with, "You know, you really couldn't stop me even if you wanted to, but it's all yours, buddy." Alexander just grabbed a blanket and a pillow and headed to the couch to try and sleep.
He drifted in and out of consciousness, from nightmares to sweet dreams, and awoke again. "I guess the whiskey isn't strong enough," he muttered to himself. He shuffled to his backpack where he had put one of the bottles Ruby had brought them. He uncorked it and took a long swig from it. "That hit the spot. Now, time to get some rest." He yawned and shuffled back to the couch.
Morning came quick and he forgot he was on a different time schedule. When dawn came, the sounds of the house had started to change and a maid barged in. She was shocked when she saw Alexander staring out the window, putting a shirt on. His back was riddled with scars, bullet wounds, and claw marks from animals.
"Sorry, my job comes with hazards. If you're lucky, you only get a scar or nothing at all. The unlucky ones end up dead," he said, buttoning up his shirt. "Was there something you needed, miss, or were you here to stare?" he added.
She realized she was staring. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Helen wanted me to tell you food is waiting for you downstairs in the dining room," the maid replied, suddenly trying to avoid the fact she was acting awkward.
Franklin squeaked, "Is there food for me?"
"Oh, you're right. Hey, miss, can you bring some fish for Franklin here?" Alexander said, and the maid looked confused about why he was talking to the small creature, but she obeyed and left the room to go make the arrangements.
Alexander decided he should go downstairs and eat. A free meal was a free meal, so he started walking and Franklin scurried across the floor to Alexander and climbed up to his perch.
The dining room was big and the food had been prepared. Aunt Helen had a busy day for Alexander: finish getting him his citizenship paperwork, get him fitted for a suit—she wanted it to be a fancy one, but Alexander said a simple suit is best, since he didn't like to stand out. After some arguing about this matter, she gave in to his wish.
The next couple of days went by quick. Rilain was still out in the wilderness, hunting, but she had one of the Gazelle’s flair guns to send up in case she was in trouble. However, Alexander had taught her a lot about combat with most animals, and refreshed her survival skill knowledge for those drawn-out bounties.
Tonight was the night of the masquerade ball. Aunt Helen had given him an old mask that his real father had worn. It was a simple blue with a bird carved into the side of the mask. Franklin wanted to go, but Helen had said they wouldn't let him in with Franklin, so he had to stay at the manor. Franklin was sad, but Alexander promised him an adventure next time. He reluctantly agreed and scurried off to somewhere unknown. The old house had plenty of hidden crannies for being so old.
They departed by carriage pulled by a deer-like animal, which seemed rather elaborate, but the ball was supposed to be a masquerade. The rode for a bit up a hilly path in the mountainside to a castle built into the cliff. It was a marvel of structural engineering and elegance, too. They seemed to be a people who truly loved art in all its forms. They had passed through the arches of the main gate and the inside was even more elegant with marble floors and columns flanked by statues of great kings and queen.
"So, this is how a queen lives? Very fancy," Alexander muttered, looking around.
"Well, it’s how most of the aristocrats live," Aunt Helen answered.
Alexander thought about his next statement. "Seems a little too extravagant to me. I like living the simple life."
"Well, if we’re on the subject, you do have an inheritance from your parents. Also, this is a masquerade, but it isn't really one since everyone knows each other," Helen mentioned as they were walking.
"Well, I don’t know anyone, so this is fine. As for the inheritance, hold on to it, I have money but I only use it for food, drink, and repairs," he added as they reached the door.
The door opened to the grand ballroom. It was filled with people and a man announced with a trumpet, introducing Lady Holt and Mr. Nolan. The crowd went silent. News of Alexander was the talk of the town among the aristocrats. The crowd quickly went back.
"You can wear your mask now," she said.
"I’m fine with just my eye patch. Now, where can a man find a drink?" he asked. His aunt pointed to the bar and he walked away, saying he'll find her later.
He found a waiter, asked for a whiskey, and went to the balcony for a better view. There was a cold wind blowing and he leaned over the cold, icy rail, sipping his whiskey as he looked at the lights of the city flickering like swarms of fireflies. He took a deep breath and his lungs burned from the cold air.
"You know, you're missing the party, Mr. Nolan," a female voice said from behind him. Alexander turned to see a beautiful-looking woman in a gold dress. Her mask looked simple with two horns protruding from the brow.
"I am enjoying myself, but I don’t like being in a room full of people I don't know…" He said and she smiled at his answer.
"We’ll take some time and get to know some of them. You're the talk of the town, I hear, gone for so many years, and then to return to find out you had family."
"Well, it wasn't as easy as that. I still don't remember anything about m past. This was just a lucky coincidence that I found my aunt. This is all new to me… And who are you again? Shouldn't you be in the ball, mingling?" he replied.
"Well, it’s a masquerade, so you can find out at the end of the night. Do you want to dance?" she asked, holding her hands out. Alexander thought about it, and with a quick gulp, finished his whiskey.
"Well, if you're asking, I can’t turn down a pretty lady," he said as he followed her back into the ballroom.
He had some dances with the mystery girl, they talked more, and she discussed royalty and parliament. Later on in the night, she had to talk to a few people. Girls kept coming over and talking to Alexander; he was quite popular, which was odd. But every time the lady in the gold dress came back, all the other girls would back away, like animals running from a bigger predator. He wondered who she was.
As they were talking, Alexander’s aunt came by. "There you are, I told you that you would have a good time, and you've met Ms. Dahlberg," she said with a polite curtsey.
Alexander looked confused. "Dahlberg… Where have I heard that name before?"
"I'm the Queen of Kuu and the host of this ball," she said.
"Well, am I supposed to treat you different, now that I know who you are?" Alexander asked, still confused by the turn of events.
She smiled. "You don’t have to. You have made this night more entertaining. Will you continue your story?"
Alexander continued with his story of tracking a dangerous fugitive through the icy wastes of Titania, hunting him for days on foot until he finally found him in a small village north of Klippebror. He also mentioned the wildlife. He told her his best friend was a land octopus, and surprisingly, she didn't run away for thinking him crazy. He left out the parts that he and Franklin could talk to each other because that seemed to scream crazy.
The night was starting to die down and guests were leaving. His aunt mentioned she was going to leave soon. The Queen thanked him for making her night more enjoyable, and that he should visit Kuu more often. Alexander thanked her for the same and if she had any bounty hunter work or monster problems, his aunt could get in touch with them.
They left the party in good moods and Helen said, "I think she likes you, and if you played your cards right, you could be a king."
"Well, she was beautiful and we got along, but I’m not into having power. I like traveling and adventure," he said. Helen looked defeated for now.
Alexander decided to stay for another week to see more of the country as a whole and he could get some repairs done to the Gazelle for practically nothing because of his aunt.
The day finally came when they had to head back to Conwell. He enjoyed this country, but it was time to see the desert, and he missed the bar and some warmer weather would be welcomed. Plus, Franklin was getting restless.
They started to board the ship when the guards yelled, “Halt!”
Alexander and Rilain came back down to see what the commotion was. A deer-drawn carriage approached and a young lady exited it and approached the Gazelle.
"You know, your highness, you didn’t need to see us off," he said out loud.
She smiled and said, "Well, it was a pleasure meeting you this week. So, this is your crew?"
"Oh, how rude of me, this is Rilain Svain Mortador, and this is Franklin," Alexander said.
Franklin squeaked, "Wow, she is pretty. So that's what I missed at the ball."
The Queen smiled and waved, and Alexander bowed and said it was time to leave with a long day of traveling. The cargo door lifted up, the engines started to hum, and the sails opened and she began to lift off the ground, slowly ascending to the heavens before setting sail back home with some new stories and to see how much work had piled up in their absence.